It is with great displeasure that we have learned of Washington State Universitys plans to eliminate not only the Department of Community Studies and the Rural Sociology, but also the positions of the faculty within this department. As an international organization made up of community and rural studies scholars from all over the world, we (RC40) are shocked and dismayed that in these fiscally challenging times, your university has chosen to turn its back on individuals that are integral in making your university relevant at the local, national and international levels.

The WSU Department of Community Studies and the Rural Sociology is at the cutting edge of survey methodology in the United States, community development projectsparticularly the newly formed Latino community projectand agricultural and food studies. Your faculties contribute to interdisciplinary research projects and provide an invaluable service to undergraduate and graduate education at Washington State University. In an era where agriculture and food are at the forefront of global debates, media discussions and popular culture, you are opting to get rid of the very people that research these important issues and are able to articulate these issues to a diverse population of people, including community leaders, farmers, and politicians. We hope that you will reconsider your decision, as losing these faculty members and their skill sets will be a great loss to the state of Washington, national and international scholars and policy makers, and your academic community.

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Latest Signatures

01 January 2016349. Phil BAs Director of Brown's Center for Environmental Studies and as a past chair of the American Sociological Association's Environment and Technology Section, I am well aware of the importance of the WSU department in the field of environmental sociology and

30 December 2015348. Mariah EThis department is vital in helping WA communities cope with and recover from the economic crisis.
Affiliation/Country
Sociology and Resource Economics

26 December 2015347. Richard SkAs past-President of the Rural Sociological Society and as a professional colleague who appreciates the important scholarly contributions of faculty members who are currently housed in this program, I urge reconsideration of this action.
Affiliation/Coun

18 December 2015346. Dr ChristopheroAs a young scholar I am well aware of the contributions that have been made by the WSU Community Studies and Rural Sociology department. The work of its faculty is well known throughout our field and I continue to turn to these works for both teaching as

07 December 2015342. Gretchen TThe rural areas and communities of Washington will suffer as a result of your actions. I urge you to reconsider total abolishment of the department. These exemplary academics deserve better treatment.
Affiliation/Country
North Carolina State University

14 November 2015339. Robert ObIt is regretful that Social Science Depts do not have corp. groups to speak out or organized groups like Agronomy and Animal Science Depts. have. The work of this Dept helps the entire university in it's teaching and out reach programs mission.
Affiliatio

07 September 2015325. Kari MarienAs a graduate of the WSU Sociology program and a professional sociologist now teaching and living in Eastern Washington I urge you to reconsider this decision. In these economic times we need scholarship and education on behalf of and about rural communit

03 September 2015324. Lucy JAs food security and the viability of rural places and communities becomes ever more urgent, it is vitally important to retain teaching and research programs focused upon this issues.
Affiliation/Country
University of Washington